UMD Women Beat Bemidji, Regain WCHA 4th Place

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Coming into the 2 game series with Bemidji State, the Bulldog women were 2 points behind the Beavers in the WCHA standings, in 5th place after a short winless streak of 5 games.

The 'Dogs got down 1-0 quick, on an unassisted goal by Bemidji captain Erin Cody at 3:04 of the first.Tara Gray evened the score blasting a missile through a crowd and past goaltender Alana McElhinney, who never saw the puck.

Laura Fridfinnson notched goals 3:18 apart in the second period to give the 'Dogs a 3-1 lead, but Cody scored two more (for the hat trick) faster, scoring at 11:18 from the blue line on a bouncing puck that fooled Kim Martin and again at 12:34.

Elin Holmlov didn't wait long in the third period, scoring at 4:03 from Pernilla Winberg and Jessica Wong to put UMD ahead 4-3, that was the eventual final score. Kim Martin stopped 21 of 24 shots faced, while McElhinney stopped 31 of 35 UMD shots. Former Cloquet Lumberjack defenseman Montana Vichorek assisted on the two Cody goals in the third period.

Kacy Ambroz gets in tight on McElhinney

Friddy celebrates a goal

UMD Loses, Ties Badgers at Amsoil Arena

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The Bulldogs returned home for the first time since losing to Ohio State, playing their first game at Amsoil Arena, January 21, 2011. Unfortunately, Wisconsin decided to spoil the first UMD women's hockey game at the new arena. Going into the third period, UMD hadn't scored, and were down 3-0 to the Badgers, on goals by Megan Duggan, Brianna Decker, and Hilary Knight.

At 8:15, Elin Holmlov finally got UMD on the scoreboard battling in front of Badger goaltender Alex Rigsby to put a rebound into the net. UMD couldn't get any farther, and Wisconsin's Duggan scored an empty net goal, that replays show should have been called offsides, but the call stood and Wisconsin finished with a 4-1 victory. Jenny Harss stopped 21 of 24 shots she faced, while Rigsby stopped 20 of 21 for the win.

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On Saturday the UMD women rallied late, to salvage a tie in game two against the Badgers. Wisconsin started off strong, gaining a 2-0 lead on goals by Madison Parker, and Brianna Decker. Kacy Ambroz got the 'Dogs back in the game, making the game 2-1 with a goal at 8:29 of the period. Wisconsin regained their two goal advantage on a goal by Carolyn Prevost.

UMD controlled a lot of the third period, outshooting Wisconsin for the first time in 2 games, and outscoring them 3 goals to 1 for the period. Jessica Wong made it a 3-2 deficit at 9:40 of the period, but was matched by a Hilary Knight goal for Wisconsin. At 17:29 of the period, Tara Gray fired a shot from the blue line that ricocheted off legs in front of the net and past Alex Rigsby to make the game 4-3. 1:17 later, Jamie Kenyon notched her 3rd goal of the season, tying the game at 4 with 1:14 left in the game.

Neither team scored in overtime, despite UMD needing to kill off a penalty, and the game ended tied 4-4. Wisconsin won the shootout after overtime to gain an extra point in the WCHA standings, though the game remains a tie for NCAA seeding purposes.

Vanessa Thibault carries the puck Friday, in the special black UMD jerseys

Katie Wilson fires a shot on Saturday night

Kacy Ambroz scores, surrounded by a sea of Badger players

UMD Women Tie Minnesota 2-2

The Bulldogs finally took to the ice after 5 weeks off, heading to Ridder Arena for a conference with the rival Gophers. 

The Gophers scored first, with Sarah Erickson scoring at 7:55 of the first period.  That goal was answered 5 minutes later by Brienna Gillanders, on the powerplay, and the teams went to the intermission tied at 1.

The Gophers’ Jen Schoullis retook the lead at 12:50 of the second period and that lead held until 9:33 of the third period, when Katie Wilson scored UMD’s second powerplay goal of the game to even the score at 2.  Neither team could light the lamp again, and the game ended in a 2-2 overtime tie.  The Gophers took the extra WCHA point by winning a shootout 2-1 in 3 rounds, but the game counts as a tie for NCAA playoff purposes.

Jenny Harss stopped 40 of 42 shots for the ‘Dogs, while Noora Raty stopped 29 of 31 UMD shots on the Gopher net.